SOUTH Yorkshire Police Federation has warned the police and crime commissioner against setting targets to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the force.<\/p>\n
Neil Bowles, chairman of the federation, has met with PCC Shaun Wright, who said he was planning to introduce specific performance indicators.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Wright wants the force to reduce crime levels in line with the national average,\u201d said Mr Bowles. \u201cHowever, we expressed dissatisfaction at the idea of target-setting as we believe it does not do the public any good.”<\/p>\n
Mr Bowles echoed comments made this week by Ch Supt Irene Curtis, the new President of the Superintendents\u2019 Association of England and Wales, who has warned that a \u201ctick box\u201d target culture is prevailing in the police service.<\/p>\n
Despite efforts from the Home Office to return discretion to front line officers, Ch Supt Curtis said that officers are still battling for arrests and detections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe use of numerical targets in performance management is embedded in the police psyche,\u201d she said. \u201cPolicing should not be a competition. It should be collaborative and in the best interests of the public we serve. A different approach is needed to how we police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark Smith, Essex Police Federation chairman, has also warned this week that it was \u201cvery dangerous\u201d to have targets on arrests.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice officers will meet those targets,\u201d said Mr Smith. \u201cBut the worry is that they are arresting the wrong people, that they may be soft arrests. Would these people have previously been arrested or given a warning?<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers are not going to let bad guys walk away but with officers fearing they will not hit their targets there is a risk they will make soft arrests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is unacceptable. It is not policing, it is chasing targets. It is not giving a service to the public. The target should be arresting the right people.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for Mr Wright said: \u201cThe aim is to reduce overall crime at least in-line with the national average. For each performance year the target is to reduce crime at a greater rate than the national average so that we end up converging with the national rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAntisocial behaviour is one of the commissioners key priorities, targets have been set in the past by the previous police authority on this, and the commissioner proposes to do so in his forthcoming police and crime plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
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